{"id":31401,"date":"2022-03-10T17:47:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T17:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandignitybeta.com\/demo\/brandlatest\/2022\/03\/10\/seo-for-startups-using-seo-to-energize-organic-traffic-in-the-first-year\/"},"modified":"2022-03-10T17:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T17:47:08","slug":"seo-for-startups-using-seo-to-energize-organic-traffic-in-the-first-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/brandignitybeta.com\/demo\/brandlatest\/seo-for-startups-using-seo-to-energize-organic-traffic-in-the-first-year\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO for Startups: Using SEO to Energize Organic Traffic in the First Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"search<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a> is one of the more crucial elements of your marketing strategy. This strategy is what makes your website, your content, and your products stand out in crowded search engines like Google.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An <\/span>effective marketing strategy must emphasize SEO best practices<\/span><\/a>, but a startup can\u2019t afford to get lost in the shuffle. Major brands are easily recognized, trusted, and even sought after directly. Your startup won\u2019t have that level of online leverage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Usually, in the first year of a startup\u2019s life, the marketing budget is light. Most funds are filtered into product development and overhead. You must make <\/span>SEO and marketing a priority for your startup so your brand<\/span><\/a> can be discovered by a new audience and you can make more sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most search engines will produce enough results to keep people on the first page, maybe the first two. Websites and products that fall lower down on the search engine results page (SERP) or that don\u2019t make it on the first page are far less likely to get a good click-through rate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not ranking high on the SERP, your chances of generating organic traffic decrease dramatically. Optimizing your website, content, and digital assets for <\/span>SEO is the long game and requires consistency and patience<\/span><\/a> but there\u2019s no replacement for organic traffic that only costs effort and zero ad spend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are a few best practices in SEO to help boost organic traffic to your startup!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SEO Basics<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

SEO helps your website generate more unpaid traffic instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on pricey ads or affiliate links. Search engines crawl your content for \u201con-page SEO\u201d in your articles, videos, website copy, blogs, newsletters, and social media to compile search results.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For example, someone studying for a driver\u2019s permit test in Oklahoma may search for \u201chow to pass a practice permit test in Oklahoma.\u201d When the results are displayed, typically websites that rank higher on the page are what will draw the most clicks from searchers, like <\/span>this permit test on the Zutobi website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Google will recognize that your website is a match for that search to verify your ranking. This adds to your brand\u2019s credibility in Google\u2019s eyes, and you will be displayed in more relevant searches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are also more technical elements of an SEO strategy, like backlinking and schema markups. These are both elements that help search engines verify your website\u2019s credibility and prove you deserve to be displayed higher up in search results.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why Startups Need an Effective SEO Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

Higher search engine ranking is one of the best ways to be discovered by new customers. But for a brand-new business like yours, it can be tough to add another thing to your plate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are a few reasons to inspire you to implement a solid SEO strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brand Awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most searchers find new brands when they need to solve a problem, such as how to change the oil in their car or if they need to learn about proper passing laws before a driver\u2019s test. When your brand shows up in search rankings and helps them solve their problem, they\u2019ll remember and be excited to share how you helped them with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and the internet!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you gain customers, make sure they walk away happy with your product or services. You can then leverage their reviews and testimonials to advance your credibility even further. This, in turn, lends itself to even more sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inexpensive Website Traffic<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like most startups, you\u2019re not working with a huge marketing budget. You don\u2019t have unlimited funds to drop into paid strategies like ads, influencers, or affiliates. This is why <\/span>SEO is the most cost-effective strategy at this stage of your business<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most of the budget is expended in time and maybe the cost of a few tools to help enhance your efforts. Due to the low cost, <\/span>SEO has the potential to generate some of the highest ROI<\/span><\/a> of any marketing strategy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Building Brand Credibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your company\u2019s credibility is directly tied to the level of trust customers, and visitors have in your brand. Credibility can be established through positive customer experiences, consistent content creation, and positioning your brand as an expert in the industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You want to be the \u201cgo-to\u201d solution your customer seeks out when they have the problem you solve. In order to do that, you have to be findable! If your content is ranking on search engines, this shows the user that you\u2019re serious about what you do, and they\u2019re more likely to trust you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Improved User Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

User experience refers to how easily it is for visitors to use and navigate your website. While user experience isn\u2019t technically a component of SEO strategy, it\u2019s still important.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Google can track how long someone stays on your website and how well it\u2019s performing. If a user clicked on your result and then abandoned ship because your graphics are terrible or nothing will load, this could impact future rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to Use SEO to Boost Traffic<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

The following are several tips that can help you generate organic traffic for your startup using effective SEO strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zero In on Your Target Audience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

While organic traffic is exactly what you need, it\u2019s meaningless if you\u2019re attracting the wrong customers who won\u2019t actually buy from you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Targeting your services, messaging, graphics, and branding to attract only your ideal customers is the best way to turn clicks into sales and one-time sales into repeat customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can you identify your target audience?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Get in their head!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n